A Father's Problem
by MovieVillain
Summary: Set after the game, Ethan has decided to take Madison and Shaun to a vacation at the Overlook Hotel. As the days progress, their vacation has turned into a nightmare.
1. The Hotel

Ethan Mars drives to the mountains by car. As he drives, he recalls of how he is married to Madison Paige, a journalist of the American Tribune. The place where they first met is in a hotel. This is also the place where they met the second time. The third time of their meeting is when the cops are pursuing him. The fourth meeting was in the same hotel again. Ethan and Madison make love on that night. When he woke up, he is enraged to discover that she is a journalist, but forgives her anyway. Later on, they met while Ethan is trying to free his son, Shaun, by the hands of the Origami Killer. They managed to escape Lt. Blake's clutches by surrendering with their hands up. Since after the incident, they got married and move in an apartment with the two of them living with Shaun. Madison convinces him to have a vacation after all this. She suggested to have a vacation to a hotel that's never been familiar to them: the Overlook Hotel. Ethan finds it a good idea; that way, he could think of his architectural plans.

He goes to a hotel and observes the surroundings before him. As he looks for parking, there is a free space in the middle so he parks his car there.

Upon walking inside the hotel, Ethan sees the people inside are looking good. He looks at his left to see two women reading travel magazines about the country they're living on now; on to his right are two men having a cup of coffee while reading the newspaper. He walks forward to the receptionist.

"Hi," Ethan said. "I'm here to see Mr. Ullman. My name is Ethan Mars."

"He's at his second to your right."

Ethan makes a smile on his face for an answer. "Thank you."

He goes on his way to his right to Mr. Ullman's office. Upon entering, he looked at the man who looks in his 50s and to his left is a man who looked in his 40s. Nevertheless, he accepts the interview with these two.

"Are you Mr. Ullman? My name is Ethan Mars."

"Good to see you, Ethan," said Mr. Ullman. "Oh, and the other man you'll get a chance to meet is Bill."

"It's good to see you, Bill," Ethan lifting his right hand and holds Bill's left hand, gesturing of shaking hands.

Mr. Ullman said, "Now that you're here, you want some coffee before the interview."

"If you're going to have some, I don't mind," was the reply emerging from Ethan's mouth.

"Have a seat while I prepare the coffee," said Mr. Ullman.

"Thank you," Ethan is putting himself down to a chair to his right. This is the perfect position.

_I hope I'll get a good interview._


	2. Views

In an apartment in Philadelphia, Madison is cooking breakfast while Shaun is sitting on their table reading a guide book about the Overlook Hotel.

"So, Shaun," Madison said turning her attention from the frying pan. "Are you excited to go there?"

"Yes, Mom," said Shaun he recalls the moment that his father got married to a journalist, making her his stepmother. "I'm excited to go there. Oh, and what about breakfast?"

Madison looks at frying pan to see the contents are cooked. In the frying pan, the contents are bacon and eggs. She takes them out of the pan and places them on a plate.

"Thanks for the reminder."

As the two enjoyed their breakfast, Shaun has a worried look on his face as if he's worried about going vacation on some place that has bad history.

"What's wrong, Shaun?" asked Madison.

"I'm worried about that place," was the reply. "Something's not right. I can say that a hotel that has ghosts."

"What makes you say that?"

"It's built from an Indian ground."

Madison knows what Shaun is telling her. She wraps her arms around him for a hug. "Don't worry, Shaun, if there's anything bad going on that hotel, I'll protect you."

"Thank you, Mom."


	3. Interview

"So, Ethan, do you have any idea what are the job entails?" asked Mr. Ullman, looking Ethan in the eyes. He looks at him in a firm manner.

"Only in a very general way."

Mr. Ullman explained, "Well, the winters are really cruel. The objective is to cope with the physical and mental damage. One of the elements of this hotel you should keep in mind is the boiler in the bottom floor. You must keep it balanced so that it won't overheat. Therefore, the elements can't get a foothold.

Ethan said with a smile on his face, "That sounds fine to me."

"Physically, it's not a demanding job. The only thing you need is to have a sense of isolation."

The words coming out of Ethan's mouth, "Well, that's exactly what I'm looking for. I'm an architecture that is making an oncoming project. One month of peace is just what I wanted."

Mr. Ullman goes from worried look to a happy look. He has found the perfect man.

"Very good, Ethan. To some people, isolation can be problem."

"Not for me," was the reply.

"How about Madison and Shaun? Will they like this place?"

"They'll love it," said Ethan.

Mr. Ullman thought, _He's good. I can he's really normal, but I have to be sure._

"Before I turned you over to Bill, there's another thing we should talk about. Not to sound melodramatic, but this story is known to give people second thoughts about the job."

"Oh, is there?" Ethan begins to have a curious look in his face. He has never been told a story at a time like this.

_Is there a history of this place or something?_

"I don't suppose people in this state haven't told you about the incident in this hotel last year? If they didn't, I'll tell you."

"This'll be good to hear."

Mr. Ullman clears his throat. He reaches his hand for a glass of water to have a drink. To him, it would help him refresh of his mind of the incident.

"Well, last year, I hired a man named Donald Black to be the caretaker of the hotel. He came up here with his wife and daughter. He has good records, good references. From what I've been told, he is a complete normal individual. But, during the winter, he suffers a complete breakdown. He run amok and killed his family with an axe. Then, he committed suicide by slitting his throat with a shard of broken glass. Police said that this is what they called cabin fever, a claustrophobic reaction when people are shut in the same space."

Ethan is getting curious of this.

_Whoever thought that there will be someone before me would have a problem like this._

"Well, that is quite a story."

Mr. Ullman chuckles at this. Finding it hard to believe it, he is shocked to learn of this history.

"Yeah, Ethan," he said. "It is, but it happened. The reason I told you this is because I might get worried you would have the same problem as him."

_So that's it huh?_ Ethan thought. _I might end up getting a problem like that but I must face it. If I want to get a relaxation, I must overcome this._

"I can assure you, Mr. Ullman, that is not gonna happen to me. Besides, I went to psychiatric sessions about having this kind of problem. He told me that I must have a sense of isolation."

"So are you ready?" asked Mr. Ullman.

"Yes, I am."


	4. Worries

As soon as their breakfast is over, Madison is washing the dishes in the kitchen while Shaun is watching tv in the living room. He is watching cartoons, his special kind of entertainment. The phone in the kitchen started to ring. Madison has almost finished in washing the dishes that she has to take a break to answer the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Madison," said Ethan's voice.

"So, Ethan, how did it go?"

"I got the job," was the reply. "I'll be coming home to have a good night sleep so that we can go together to this hotel."

"That's nice," said Madison. "I'm hoping you won't bring problems there."

"I hope so," was the reply. "Anyway, I'm coming home. Bye."

Madison puts down the phone. She goes over to the sink to finish the last of her dishes to wash.

_Just what if this isn't the right place to have a vacation? Shaun might have thought of something that is not really good about that place._

That night, Ethan and Madison are sleeping in the same room of the apartment while Shaun still sleeps alone in his room.

In this sleep, Shaun gets haunted visions of the Overlook. The elevators in rivers of blood, a naked crazy woman in Room 209, and the other ghosts in this hotel. They've started to haunt his mind ever since the day of thinking about that place. He wakes up from this nightmare as he puts his hands on his head, looking worried from all this.

_What if... what if this place is really haunted?_


End file.
